Lovelife
by Tessadragon
Summary: Kagome's graduated and wonders what'll happen next, but is shocked by the new quest before her and Inuyasha.
1. Chapter 1

Please, people, go through your spelling and grammar when it comes to your own fanfiction. Week after week, I want to read fanfiction, but have to stop as the level of grammar, spelling and punctuation goes from bad to worse. It really, really disrupts a story.

Tessadragon

Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine.

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Chapter 1 

"Congratulations!"

Streamers twisted lazily and distantly in the pure blue sky. Sunlight bathed the crowds in joyful warmth. The air shivered with elation, and Kagome stood in a daze, the graduation cap perched precariously on her head, the scroll that declared her 'appropriately educated' dangling from her hand. Her mind whirled in confusion at the sights surrounding her, of many different natures. _I have graduated...I have managed, even despite having to go to the feudal era so often!_ Pride welled up in her at that.

"Kagome!" Yuki grabbed her arm, "Look! Look!" she frantically pointed at their best friend, Eri, who stood stunned, before her boyfriend, Li, whose cheeks were flushed, his dark hair tousled beneath his graduation cap that was close to falling off.

"Eri?" Kagome whispered, amazed.

Eri was crying, and not just from the euphoric effect of graduation. There her boyfriend knelt on one knee before her, on the steps of their high school, and in his hands, he held out a diamond ring to Eri, and he'd just asked her to be his wife. Her lips parted and she was trying to say 'yes', but failed the first three times.

"Just say it!" Yuki yelled, pale with excitement.

"Y-yes," Eri stammered, then flung herself on Li, "Oh yes! I will! I mean, I do! I mean, no, I will! Oh! Yes!"

_He's asking her to marry her_, Kagome thought, stunned. They've only been going out…five months? She refused to let the other more bitter thought intrude on this amazing, happy moment, but still it nagged at the edge of her consciousness…I've been with Inuyasha for two years and he's never even come close to even saying he wants to be with me.

_This is Eri's moment_, Kagome thought, and a smile came to her face, though her eyes remained distant, trained on the stark familiar figure standing at the very back of the crowd, his silver hair flowing down his shoulders, his red haori draping down his trim figure. She couldn't see his expression from here, but she could easily imagine it! She imagined he was scowling, hating being in this crowd…

But she was wrong.

He didn't claim to understand why education was so important to Kagome, but she'd insisted so hard on it, and this event, with everyone marching up to receive a scroll and a handshake in such a time-consuming manner…there was something to the air, something addictively exciting, and though he was bewildered, disliking the level of noise as everyone congratulated each other…he was proud. Proud of Kagome. His Kagome, he even considered her, though he'd never told her as much.

From this distance, he easily watched the scene unfold, even saw the tears glittering at Kagome's eyes.

_Is she crying because she's happy? Or because she's sad?_ He wanted to know.

"Psst," Yuki whispered to another of Kagome's friends, tugging at her sleeve, "Isn't that Kagome's boyfriend coming over?"

Toya clapped her hands together, remembering Inuyasha. A smile glowed on her face, "That hunk!"

Kagome wistfully watched Eri and Li, whose hands were clasped together, gazing adoringly into each other's eyes.

"What a perfect couple," Yuki said wistfully, voicing Kagome's thoughts. Kagome forced a smile, "I'm so happy for you two."

Eri hardly heard anyone.

"Why not get Inuyasha to propose to you," Yuki whispered in her ear.

Kagome went red.

"And don't you try to deny it," Yuki said sternly. "You've got it on your face…you want him so bad, and you're always waiting for him to ask you to be his."

Kagome's face fell. "Really?"

Yuki smiled and nodded, then wandered away to congratulate Eri again, who seemed to be still trapped in that moment of gazing into her fiancé's eyes.

"I've got to go," Kagome mumbled and went back to her family: her mother, Grandfather and little brother, Souta. Her mother greeted her with a hug and kissed her forehead, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, sis!" Souta chipped in, grinning.

"Keh." Inuyasha wandered over, his hands hidden inside the sleeves of his haori. Kagome prepared herself for a scathing remark about how 'useless' education was, but instead…

"Well done." Inuyasha sounded a little awkward about it.

Kagome gazed at him, surprised. "Thank you," she said, startled.

"But that gown looks silly on you," he said, true to his nature.

"It's a symbol of education and honour!" Kagome yelled.

"But it still looks stupid on you!" Inuyasha yelled back.

Kagome's mother hastily intervened, whispering in Kagome's ear, "Goodness, Kagome! He's saying you're too pretty for your graduation gown!" Then she gave her daughter such a warm smile that Kagome sighed and gave up. But emblazoned on her mind was the image of Eri and Li.

Inuyasha frowned at Kagome, then grabbed her hand and towed her away. "Inuyasha!" Kagome protested.

"Uh uh," Inuyasha retorted, and came to a halt when they were a sufficient distance from everyone else, out of hearing range. "Kagome, what's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong!" Kagome protested.

"Kagome, your voice's gone up a pitch," Inuyasha commented.

Kagome gritted her teeth, "Nothing's wrong, Inuyasha."

"And what was the deal with that guy kneeling in front of that girl?" he continued.

She was silent for a moment, biting down frustration, then she said it. "He was asking her to marry him. Because he loves her."

There was an awkward silence.

"C'mon," Inuyasha hadn't let go of her hand. "Let's go home."

"Which home?" Kagome asked suspiciously, and Inuyasha shrugged. "Does it matter? Let's just have…peace and quiet."


	2. Chapter 2

My thanks to: the hxc MollyDolly, premierarchange, Silverwolfpups. Warning, this story goes through many patches already covered by other fanfictions: I just want to have a try at writing another 10 chapter story (or shorter, if necessary) about the thing that I've wanted to write about, in as fresh a way as possible.

Tessadragon

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

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Chapter 2

Very confused, Inuyasha sat hunched in the branches of the shrine's oldest tree, his eyes trained on Kagome's window: the girl had drawn her curtains, so he could only watch the occasional silhouette as she got up restlessly again and again, paced her room.

_It's that friend of hers_, he thought sourly. Then confusion reared its ugly head again, _Does she want me to give her something? Like a ring? Or a jewel?_

He supposed that he could, looking down at his Tetsusaiga. He gave a very sly sidelong glance at Kagome's house, checking that no one was around, then jumped to the ground, unsheathing the fang.

_Gotta keep it small_, he demanded of himself, turning to face the edge of the garden where he hoped he could do least damage, "C'mon Tetsusaiga, let's give Kagome something to remember." The demonic aura glowed burning white, and Inuyasha straightened up, his ears flattening, the glint of battle appearing in his golden-tawny eyes. "Kongosoha!" he yelled.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shrieked, pulling the curtains open, "What on earth are you—oh! SIT!"

**Bang!**

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kagome stormed, swinging herself over her windowsill and climbing to the ground, running to him, "Are you trying to demolish the shrine?"

Inuyasha's body twitched feebly from the shallow pile of diamond shards, "Kagome…" within his voice came the threat, but Kagome ignored it. "Put that sword away, right now Inuyasha—before I seal you to the tree with an arrow for the next two weeks!"

"Kagome? Inuyasha?" her mother called, "Dinner's ready!"

Inuyasha made a strangled whimpering sound, and Kagome spun on her heel and ran back indoors.

"Coming!" Kagome said gladly.

Inuyasha struggled to his feet and limped inside.

"Boy, Inuyasha!" Souta stared at the half-demon, "Did Kagome rough you up again?"

Inuyasha went red, "I'm just having an off-day," he mumbled.

"Hmph," Kagome raised her head high, refusing to look at Inuyasha. "He was just trying to demolish the shrine."

Grandpa stared at the half-demon, his mouth hanging open.

"Father, swallow your food!" Kagome's mother chided, and he choked and swallowed, grabbed his glass and gulped some water. "Trying to demolish our shrine, Inuyasha?"

"It wasn't on purpose," the half demon said coolly. "I was…training." Somehow, admitting he'd been trying to do something that could be called tender-hearted, didn't appeal to him.

Kagome rolled her eyes and tucked into her food, reaching out her chopsticks to snatch a riceball from one of the platters, then heard a slight click, noticed with some detachment that Inuyasha had reached out at the same moment to snag the same riceball. Their eyes met, then Inuyasha drew back, "You have it."

Kagome went red, "No, you have it, Inuyasha."

"I said, you have it." With that, Inuyasha turned back to the food already on his plate and began shovelling it in.

Kagome's mother hid a small smile. "Father, shall I help you with the rest of the tidying the shelves? I bought some new feather dusters to replace the one you broke."

"Ah!" Grandpa exclaimed, "Yes, I have some new antiques to add." He clasped his hands enthusiastically, "Such fine quality shimenawa! They shall ward off all evil spirits…" Then a sneaky look entered his eyes, "Inuyasha, would you like to see?"

"I'm not an evil spirit," Inuyasha drawled, getting Grandpa's meaning. "And I'm not a guinea pig."

"And anyway, usually you only use those for ground-breaking ceremonies," Kagome added severely. Her mother laughed, "Father, please don't test your antiques on everyone, especially not that new…what was it? Sessho-seki?"

"Sessho-suki?" Inuyasha said, surprised.

"It's said to be a killing stone," Kagome said, glaring at her grandfather, "Have you really got one of those, Grandfather? Or is it another of your fakes?" Then she answered herself, "Yes, it's probably one of the stones from the garden."

"Wah!" Grandpa cried, "You people never have faith in me!"

"Of course we do, Father," Kagome and Souta's mother assured him, "The shrine has always been safe as long as we have lived here…"

Kagome sighed and gathered her and Inuyasha's plates, taking them to the kitchen. One of the plates slipped, and Inuyasha dived to catch it.

"Thanks," Kagome said quietly, as her grandfather continued his cry of faithlessness.

"Keh," Inuyasha replied, following her to the kitchen counter and putting the plate down with the others. "Kagome…can we go upstairs?"

Kagome looked at him, surprised.

"I'm going to show you the power of my antiques!" Kagome's grandfather declared, jumping to his feet, then dashed outside…

Then Inuyasha's eyes widened, "Damn!" Then he went running out after Inuyasha's grandfather.

"Huh?" Kagome stared after him, confused, then shook her head and went upstairs, suddenly tired.

"Diamonds!" Inuyasha's grandfather skidded to a halt in front of the pile of priceless gems. He clasped his hands and cast his eyes upwards, "Oh spirits of the sky! Thank you!"

"Um, nope, they're mine," Inuyasha said from behind him.

Inuyasha's grandfather spun around and stared at him, "What!"

"I made them," Inuyasha said with a shrug, then crouched and snatched up a handful, sifted them through his hand, the unbreakable shards clicking against his claws. He studied them, frowning, then looked up at Kagome's grandfather, "Hey, will Kagome like these?"

Kagome's grandfather blinked. "Well, they say diamonds are a girl's best friend…"

"Alright then," Inuyasha nodded and leapt to the tree branches, "Old man, you can have the rest," he added, barely glancing at Kagome's grandfather, who stared dumbfounded at him. Inuyasha didn't notice though, leaping in through Kagome's window, dropped the handful of diamonds on Kagome's bed: a glittering heap of riches.

"Let's see if she likes those," Inuyasha growled softly, then noticed one shard was rather larger than the rest. He picked it up again and studied it briefly, "Hmm." It was more riveting than the others, Inuyasha felt: more vibrant and beautiful. He pocketed it.

Kagome was coming up the stairs; Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head, "No way am I having her find some other excuse to sit me again!" _More like, you're scared she'll like it so much that she does the stammering thing and throws her arms around you until you panic and do something to make her angry so that she says 'sit',_ his subconscious teased him, sounding remarkably like Kagome.

Leaping out of the window, he returned to what he'd come to know as his tree. Nestling in the crook of the branches, he sank into a meditative state, of which Kagome seemed to be his focus. _Could I really think of…being with her forever?_ He thought, kinda timidly. _Isn't she happy with us just being together?_

He thought of Sango and Miroku, constantly remembering the happy glow on Kagome's face at the romantic couple. He imagined going down on one knee like that guy had, in front of Kagome. His cheeks went red. Imagine having Kagome…forever. Being with her…forever.

_Maybe_, he supposed, but that was a lie. _Ramen_, he kidded himself.

_But I could kiss her. Really kiss her, and not feel so embarrassed about it…and she wouldn't shove me away if I tried to kiss her, right?_ He remembered ages ago when she'd done that, saying something about holding a phone, whatever that was.

_I'll kiss her_, he decided suddenly, irrelevantly. He didn't know how he'd come to this conclusion, but…

He glanced up towards Kagome's window. _I'll wait until she's asleep. Just in case I chicken out._

_No. I won't chicken out._ He gritted his teeth and forced himself to jump back down from the branches, ran to the house, climbed the wall to Kagome's window and swung himself lightly over the windowsill.

Kagome was sitting at her desk, writing a letter. Startled, she turned, then saw it was Inuyasha. "Oh. Inuy—"

He reached her, and kissed her, kissed her harder than he'd planned to, because he was so scared of her shoving him away…

Her eyes squeezed tight then reopened.

_Inuyasha's kissing me!_ She trembled, exalted and terrified at the same time. _He's really kissing me…_ timidly she returned the kiss…

Then Inuyasha forced himself to break the kiss, one hand clenching the largest shard of the diamond. He pressed it into Kagome's hand, then kissed her again, on the mouth, kissed his way up her cheek, breathing lightly along her skin, as light as a butterfly wing, to her ear, then whispered into it: "Be mine, Kagome."

"I am," Kagome whispered, dazed.

"No," Inuyasha insisted, "Really be mine..." Go down on one knee! he urgently remembered, and knelt, then felt stupid. "I don't know what I'm meant to say," he mumbled.

Kagome stared at him. "Uh, Inuyasha, what are you doing?!"

"What does it look like?" he snapped. "I'm asking you to marry me!"


	3. Chapter 3

My thanks to: That Bloody Demon, thepoweroflove, shippousangoffe, premierarchange, kon-chan, and Silver Wolf Pups. Aw, you were all so nice!

Tessadragon

Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine, but by the end of this fanfic...who knows?

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Chapter 3 

"Sango," Kagome said in a strange voice, appearing at the doorway to the hut that the demon slayer was residing in. Sango sat up, "Kagome! You're back!" She gave her friend a warm smile, but Kagome didn't return it, there was a deep level of shock in her eyes instead.

"What's wrong?" Sango got to her feet and strode to Kagome, "Has someone been hurt?" Urgency rose in her voice, "Has something happened?"

"Y-yes," Kagome said unsteadily, "Something's happened…" There was such confusion in her eyes, then she sank to her knees. "Sango…Inuyasha's proposed…to me."

Sango stared, a smile breaking free, "Oh kami! Oh, Kagome! This is, I mean, it's…amazing! No, brilliant, no…" She threw her hands up and gave up trying to voice the surge of emotion, instead hugged Kagome tightly. "Congratulations, Kagome."

Tears were sliding down Kagome's cheeks; Sango understood it with a small, stunned smile. "C'mon, you must tell the others…before Inuyasha does."

"Before Inuyasha…?" Kagome looked at her, confused, then got to her feet and ran out, just in time to see Inuyasha yelling at Miroku, "What d'you mean, I have to promise to Kagome publicly?"

"That's what marriage is!" Miroku yelled back.

Sango and Kagome stared.

Then Inuyasha saw them, and his jaw dropped. Then he adopted his haughty pose, raising his chin to look away from Kagome. Miroku started laughing loudly. Shippo was rolling around on the floor in helpless laughter.

"Kagome," Miroku explained, coming over. "My congratulations to you…but Inuyasha doesn't seem to know what marriage is!"

"What marriage is?" Kagome echoed, and stared at the half demon. "Inuyasha? Is he telling the truth? Do you really not know what marriage is?"

"Then why don't you tell me," Inuyasha gritted, "And I'll say whether I know it or not."

"It's…" Kagome struggled with this, "It's…where two people that love each other, dress up in formal clothes, and a priest asks them if they take each other in health and happiness, that sort of thing, and they say 'I do', and then the priest pronounces them man and wife—"

Inuyasha snorted, "More like youkai and priestess mate—"

Kagome tried to ignore that, "And then they kiss—"

"—I could kiss you any time! Like this!" He kissed her mouth hard, ignoring the villagers and his friends staring at him. Kagome enjoyed the kiss for a moment, then pulled away, looked at him soulfully, "Inuyasha, it's a ceremony that tells the world that we're…mates."

"Um," Shippo mumbled, "Demons have other ways of telling the world that someone belongs to them…"

"I can imagine," Kagome said, blushing as she tried not to imagine Inuyasha marking her in any way.

"It isn't like that!" Inuyasha growled. "It's better than saying some ridiculous words in front of a priest just so people can block up their ears and pretend they haven't heard, and then steal you…"

"You really think that would happen to me?" Kagome said, flattered.

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Argh!" he yelled, "Why are we talking about you being kidnapped?"

"You started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Inuyasha grasped her by the shoulders and fought to not start a long argument with her, thoroughly tired of the eventuality of her saying 'sit'. "Can we talk about this later? Once we've had something to eat?" He gave her a hint of hopefulness that spoke one word: ramen!

"Yes," Sango spoke up, "That's probably best. You look tired, Kagome, so let me do the cooking today, alright?"

"Thanks, Sango." Kagome grabbed her bag from where Inuyasha had dropped it, and stumbled back to the hut, tiredness sinking into her every nerve and limb. Shippo followed her, "Kagome?"

"It's alright," she assured him. "Me and Inuyasha'll figure it out."

"But why are you talking about marking as if it's something…uncool?"

"It's just…unusual, to me," she said awkwardly. "It's like sex before marriage. It just isn't a good idea."

"It's a way for him to protect you," Shippo explained like a teacher. Kagome humoured him and sat down to listen, hoping she wasn't blushing too much. "Alright then, tell me a little more…I guess, if I want to be with Inuyasha, I need to be a little more familiar with demon traditions."

"I don't know how much his human mother influenced him," Shippo said honestly. "But anyway, demons marking their mates is a romantic thing. Before Mother died, she was always really proud of the mark that Father gave her, to protect her."

"What kind of mark is it?" Kagome asked, curious despite her initial revulsion to the idea.

"A special bite…kinda like a hickey, except it leaves a tiny scar. Usually it's done somewhere kinda obvious, so that everyone can see that they're protected. But recently…" Shippo's voice faltered.

"Recently what?" Kagome asked after a moment.

Shippo gave her a frightened look. "You do realise that some people won't understand you loving a demon, right? It's why marks are sometimes now hidden. Otherwise sometimes humans were…"

"Discriminated?" Kagome guessed, and Shippo nodded, not knowing the word, "Prob'ly."

"Yes, I know," Kagome sighed. "But if I didn't stay with Inuyasha…I wouldn't be doing the right thing. It's what my heart wants."

Shippo sighed happily. "It'd be nice if it would make him good-tempered enough to stop hitting me!"

Kagome smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

"Yeah right," Shippo said wisely, knowing that not even Kagome could stop Inuyasha every time.

"Hey Kagome!" Inuyasha came in at that moment, to cover up that he'd been eavesdropping on the two of them, "Food's done. You coming?"

Kagome nodded eagerly, "Wonderful…I'm starving!"

As soon as Kagome left the hut, Inuyasha gave Shippo a thump on the head, but it was a lot gentler than usual, almost like a thank you for explaining to Kagome about their traditions better than he could have. But Shippo gave Inuyasha a suspicious look and rubbed his sore head, then ran after Kagome.

For a moment, Inuyasha stood still, contemplating this 'marriage' thing. A strong part of him demanded that he just grab Kagome and take her into the forest, and mark her, sure that she'd immediately realise that marking was way better than marriage…but the sensible part of him knew that was suicidal: Kagome would spend the next 500 years telling him to 'sit'.

"Alright," he grumbled to himself, "I'll do this marriage thing." Then he looked down at his red outfit, "But I'm _not_ dressing up." Forcing himself to ignore the smell of food, for as long as he could, Inuyasha sought out Kaede and found her in the priestess hut, "Kaede, can you do this marriage thing?"

Kaede, having heard the commotion, fought a smile. "I can bless your union with Kagome, yes."

"Can you do it today?"

Kaede's smile almost revealed itself, "You'd have to ask Kagome if that was alright with her."

"Ah."

Inuyasha bolted back to Sango's hut, grabbed Kagome by the hut and leapt back to Kaede, who blinked, surprised at Inuyasha's rapidity.

"Kagome, if you marry me here, right now…" Inuyasha realised he didn't really know what he was saying.

"Usually marriage is a big ceremony," Kagome said, wincing.

"I don't do big ceremonies," Inuyasha said truthfully, and looking at the sullen half-demon, Kagome had to agree. She looked to Kaede helplessly.

"It's whatever you two want," the priestess said with a gentle smile. "You two have been after each other for a very long time. Even I can see that. But this is a big step, at least for Kagome, if not for Inuyasha."

Inuyasha sighed, and looked at Kagome. "Can we go talk?"

Kagome hesitated and nodded, then left with the half-demon. Together they walked knowingly towards the Forest of Inuyasha, a place of great meaning to them. Inuyasha tried to organise his thoughts, while keeping his ears open for danger.

"I know human customs aren't your favourite thing," Kagome said quietly.

"I don't like them, but I do know them," Inuyasha scowled. "I don't understand them, but I've seen them. I've seen marriages."

"Were your father and mother married? Or did he mark her?" Kagome asked.

"Marked. Her family couldn't tolerate her being with a demon. She had to flee when I was a baby, and bring me up elsewhere."

Kagome nodded: the thought was frightening to her, that she could be shunned so completely for being in love. How could Inuyasha's mother have borne such a burden? She wondered, then looked at Inuyasha and found her answer there. _But I am lucky, to have Mom, and Grandpa, and even Souta, supporting me,_ she thought warmly.

"I know marriage is like a…safety net," Inuyasha struggled to voice it. "But I don't go for safety nets. I depend on your trust, and marking is about trust. Marriage is about formalities and contracts. Like love is a…" he gave up and shook his head, then looked Kagome in the eyes. "But if marriage means this much to you, I guess I can bear it. But you have to promise to let me mark you. So that I can keep you safe."

Kagome thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"And can it be something small?" Inuyasha pleaded. Kagome smiled and took his hand, then led him back towards the village. "Yes. Right now."

At least I'm getting married, she thought, a knot of excitement tightening inside her, and then she wondered again whether she was getting married for the right reasons…_I practically pestered Inuyasha into proposing to me, when he might not even understand it!_

"Uh oh," Inuyasha said, coming to a halt.

"What?"

"I saw that look on your face. The I'm-not-so-sure-about-this look. So spit it out, what's the problem now?"

"Do you really want to go ahead with this?" Kagome asked, fearing the answer.

"Well, you want it, don't you?" Inuyasha said, confused.

_It's true,_ Kagome thought, distressed, _Inuyasha really doesn't want to do this. He wouldn't have done it if I hadn't pushed him into it!_

Inuyasha sighed again, aggravated, then reached out, cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her, drew her closer, as the same fearful emotion rose in him: _Are we really ready for this?_ He thought of his mother and father, wondered if cruel luck would leave his children as orphans as early in life as it had done him.

"Maybe we should wait a while," Kagome said softly, drawing back from the kiss.

"Maybe," Inuyasha echoed.

Shippo's eyes filled with tears, but Sango shushed him, and comforted him, as they and Miroku hid in the bushes, spying on the miko and the hanyou.

"It'll be okay," Miroku told the young fox-demon confidently, "We just have to play matchmaker for Kagome and Inuyasha."

Shippo gulped, now afraid.


	4. Chapter 4

My thanks to: kon-chan, shippousangoffe, premierarchange, Question the Majority, Silver Wolf Pups, Tife L. Strife, and Sayuri-chan 16 for all your reviews!

Tessadragon

Disclaimer: Inuyasha isn't mine unless he gets amnesia.

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Chapter 4 

Sango had to admit, she'd never seen Miroku so enthused as he discussed how to make sparks fly between Kagome and Inuyasha. "You're sure Inuyasha didn't see you put flowers on his branch or Kagome's pillow?"

"Of course not," Miroku said smugly. "Why?"

"Well, if he saw you put flowers on Kagome's pillow, he'd kill you for making a move on her," Sango said practically, "And if he saw you put flowers on his branch, he'd kill you for making a move on him."

Miroku gulped. "I'm quite certain he didn't see."

"We'll find out by tonight," Shippo said innocently, his eyes gleaming.

"How sweet of you both," Miroku said sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest, "Can we now get back to the point in question? We have to make Inuyasha and Kagome fall in love all over again."

"Alright, I can see your eyes glowing with ideas," Sango said coolly, "So tell us, oh wise and perverted monk, what's your big plan?"

"Jealousy," Miroku said smugly, and crossing his arms, he sat back against the wall of the hut.

"And how are you going to find someone to make Inuyasha jealous enough to go for Kagome?" Sango asked, arching an eyebrow, but Shippo was grinning: "Koga, of course!"

"We'd have to find him," Sango pointed out.

Miroku gave her an innocent smile, "Good thing you've got a demon cat who's ever so fast—"

Kirara mewed from the corner where she'd been gnawing her fish dinner, and gave the monk a quizzical look.

"But I might be away days trying to find him!" Sango said, her eyes wide. Still, she settled down to thinking about it. "I suppose, now that Naraku's dead, he'd have gone back to his territory. I could check there…"

"Thank you, Sango," Miroku said with a grave smile. "Kagome and Inuyasha will be grateful."

"Once Inuyasha's finished hacking you to pieces," Shippo muttered. Miroku pretended not to hear that, and instead concentrated on finalising the plan. "Shippo, would you gather flowers for Koga to give to Kagome? I'll check on Inuyasha and Kagome. Sango, good luck—"

The demon slayer was already out of the door, her hirikotsu on her shoulder and Kirara in her arms. Moments later, she was gone.

"Do you really think this will work?" Shippo asked the monk earnestly, and Miroku nodded, then pumped his fist, a grin growing on his face, "Shippo, I have utter faith in this plan!"

"That's funny," Shippo said, looking up at the monk. "Why don't you say something like 'since when have my plans ever not worked'?"

"Because I'm not inviting comment or criticism. Now I must find Inuyasha and Kagome and assess the situation."

"Why are you so set on doing this?" Shippo called after him. "This matchmaking stuff? You don't usually. Usually you just sit back and enjoy the show when those two argue!"

Miroku went red, "Just trying to help our friend."

"Yeah right, lecher." Shippo hadn't ever called the monk a lecher before, but he'd heard it enough times to understand it. "C'mon! Tell! Tell!" His face went all determined and he jumped onto the monk's shoulder, tugged at his topknot. "C'mon! Tell! Why are you doing all this romantic stuff!"

"I have no reason!" Miroku said, going bright red. Shippo began reeling off reasons, "Are you hoping to make Kagome fall in love with you?"

"Of course not!" Miroku gasped, scandalised.

"You've got a bet on with Kaede?"

"No! Though…that's not a bad idea…" His cheeks still bright red, he ran for it. Shippo popped into his pink balloon shape and chased him mercilessly, pelting him with that question over and over again, "Why are you doing this?"

"What is the commotion?" Kaede gasped, shuffling from her hut. "Monk, Shippo, have respect! You'll wake up the dead with all your noise!"

"Sorry," Shippo mumbled and popped back into his normal shape.

"But why are you doing this?" Kaede queried.

Miroku's cheeks were so red that robins would have been jealous. "No reason," he mumbled.

"We'll find out soon enough," Kaede guessed.

"Find out what?" Kagome emerged from Kaede's hut, her hands stained with the pungent smell of the herbs she'd been helping to chop.

"Nothing!" Shippo waved his hands, then covered his nose, "Are you trying to keep Inuyasha from coming near you?"

Kagome went red, "Of course not! I'm just helping!" She wasn't even sure if Inuyasha had come back to the village: she'd seen him earlier that morning, heading off to the forest, his Tetsusaiga over his shoulder.

"This won't do," Miroku muttered, wrinkling his nose at the herb smell that wafted from Kagome's hands. If it made him feel this sick, he couldn't bear to imagine how much distance Inuyasha would insist on keeping from Kagome.

"What won't do?"

"How about going to the hot spring?" Miroku said smoothly, and patted her on the shoulder, "I can see you've been working so hard…you look so tired, Kagome!"

"I'm fine," Kagome objected.

He played the trump card. "What about washing the herb juice from your hair? I hate to imagine how many split ends it might cause."

Kagome stiffened, then her eyes narrowed, "Since when do you know anything about a girl's hair?"

"Uh oh," Shippo said in a stage whisper to Kaede. "He's dead. We're gonna end up scraping him off the ground."

Miroku stood his ground. _I have to get Kagome to go clean herself up…how can we make Inuyasha jealous enough to go crazy over her if he can't stand to be within twenty metres of her?_ Then his face twitched. "Alright," he said smoothly, "I have to go. Bye!" Then he ran for it.

"Baby," Shippo said in disgust.

Kagome loomed up in his face, a very suspicious look on her face. "Alright, Shippo. You know what's going on. You are going to tell me what's going on."

Shippo gulped and shrank back. _Kagome's scary!_ "Miroku and Sango are trying to get you and Inuyasha back together."

"Oh are they?" a small smile tugged at Kagome's lips. She crouched and looked the kit in the eyes. "I'd like you to tell me exactly what Miroku's planning."

Quivering, Shippo told her all about Sango going off to try and find Koga, and how Miroku had probably gone to spy on Inuyasha.

"Alright," Kagome said grimly and took off at a run towards the forest.

"Wah!" Shippo yelled, "Miroku's gonna kill me! And when Inuyasha finds out, he'll kill me too!"

"I'm sure it'll be alright," Kaede smiled stoically and went back inside her hut. Shippo followed her at a run, "Kaede, can I hide here?" his voice could be heard plaintively.

"Alright, child, but I'm certain it'll work out alright."

_Meanwhile..._

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called in a loud whisper, ducking beneath a forest branch.

"Windscar!"

"Figures," Kagome muttered, "He's gone to destroy something anew."

"I heard that!" Panting, Inuyasha spun to face her, the Tetsusaiga heavy in his hands, his mouth forming a smug smile: "And I'll have you know, I did eight windscars in a row."

"So we don't need to call this a forest any more," Kagome said lightly, eyeing the row of destroyed trees. "Good to know we can sleep safe at night."

"If you must know, it's cos otherwise I'll kill that blasted perverted monk!"

Kagome smirked, "So you found out?"

"Found out? The bastard put flowers on my branch when I was sleeping! I fell off sneezing with the freaking smell of them!"

"He must have been trying to make you think I'd give you flowers," Kagome swiftly guessed. "Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango are trying to play tricks on us, to make us be romantic."

Inuyasha scowled, "That's ridiculous! A waste of time!"

Kagome stiffened, disappointed. _I guess he thinks our relationship's a waste of time?_

The half demon sighed and thrust Tetsusaiga back into its sheath, then grabbed Kagome by the shoulders, shook her lightly, "C'mon, Kagome. Don't take me so seriously. You know what I mean! We don't need help."

"No, you only want us to have a cooling-off phase!"

"A what?" Now Inuyasha was confused. Was Kagome talking about the river? "Did you want to go for a swim?"

"Argh! No!" Kagome actually stamped her foot in frustration, and started pacing, "No, Inuyasha. What I mean is, you…I mean, we agreed we wanted to…stop thinking about being together, right?"

"I never agreed to that," Inuyasha said in a low voice, "It's a time to think, whether you really want this. And for me to think if I can do well enough."

"As if that's ever been an issue, dough-head!" She threw her arms around him in a hug, "See? I'm already going crazy, just one night after not having you around! That's what love is! Love makes us do well together!"

Now Inuyasha felt very confused. In fact, he wasn't even sure he could properly remember why they'd…split up. Was splitting up the right word for what they'd done? _Maybe it's just the marriage thing that puts a bad taste in my mouth,_ he thought bitterly. He really didn't feel like learning words to say to Kagome. Why couldn't he just talk naturally to her, like he always did?

"Then tell me what we're doing!" Kagome said, and Inuyasha couldn't help but kiss her, and kiss her again, and again. "Right now," he said a moment later, pausing to take breath, "Right now I'm just kissing you." _So that my ears can stop rattling!_ He thought, a headache starting up again. He threw himself back into kissing Kagome…yes, that made him forget the headache.


	5. Chapter 5

(don't worry, i just had to replace this heinous error i had in the earlier version...damn, i shouldn't let myself stay awake until 2 o'clock in the morning!!)

What do you mean, the plotting's over? (Tessadragon looks innocent)

My thanks to: Meatballheadedprincess14, kon-chan, shippousangoffe, InuGoddess715, Sayuri-Chan 16, premierarchange, Question the Majority, and Silver Wolf Pups.

Tessadragon

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Chapter 5

"Koga!" Sango shouted as Kirara landed at the top of the waterfall. Shaking raindrops from her hands, Sango wrung out her sleek and now wet ponytail, then approached the lair that was hidden in the craggy tunnels behind the roaring waterfall. Walking through the misty cloud that surrounded it, she took a sharp step back as a spear narrowly missed her throat. She cleared her throat and blinked at the sentry, "Hakkaku, isn't it?"

"You're that demon slayer," the wolf demon said, his eyes narrowed, and moved to block her way. "I'm sorry but no demon slayers are allowed near Lord Kouga and his mate at this time. He'll kill you later."

"What are you talking about?" Sango demanded and rapped her fist against his skull, "I'm not here to slay Koga! I need to talk to him."

"Come back later," a groggy voice called from deeper in the cave.

"You heard him," Hakkaku said threateningly, raising the spear in both hands again. Then he gave Sango a sheepish look, more like himself again. "Koga and Ayame are busy."

Sango went red and automatically took a step back.

"They've been at it for hours," Hakkaku said, beginning to enjoy the extremely embarrassed look on Sango's face.

"That's enough," Sango said hurriedly.

"They've been at it like rabbits," Hakkaku confided, "And in fact, you don't want to know what they did with the rabbits they had for lunch…"

She looked murderous enough to punch him, but instead she turned on her heel and ran back to Kirara, who stood patiently in the rain, her flame tail whipping in a playful way, her eyes observing how her flames transformed the rain into an arc of steam. Shuddering, Sango climbed onto Kirara, "C'mon, let's get back before we catch colds. I hope Miroku's come up with more ideas." Squinting through the rainclouds, she was glad when the village lurched into view. Kirara echoed that with an agreeing growl and hastily came to land with a splash in the drenched mud. Smoke drifted in a lonely spiral from the travellers' hut, and Sango ran towards it, her arms over her head in a futile attempt to shield herself from the downpour.

"Sango!" Kagome got up, startled, from the fire and hurried to pull a towel out of one of her backpacks. She draped the towel over Sango's shoulders as the demon slayer swallowed a sneeze and silently cursed Miroku.

"Where were you? What were you doing, going out in that filthy weather!" Kagome demanded, rounding on Sango: "I was worried sick, you were gone for hours! What were you doing?"

Sango was blushing painfully. A calculating expression fleeted over Kagome's face, "Fine!" she said after a moment and went to the hut door. "Miroku!" she yelled out into the torrential downpour. "Your Sango's got pneumonia!"

"What?" the monk bellowed.

"Your Sango's got—"

"I heard you!" the monk yelled, his eyes wide with terror as he came crashing into their hut, already dripping wet with that short run. He threw himself to his knees in front of Sango, "My dearest! Are you alright? Shall I massage you?" Then he turned to Kagome briefly, "What is pneumonia, anyway?"

"Illness," Kagome said shortly, then left Sango to suffer under Miroku's groping hands.

"Keh," Inuyasha growled, as Kagome entered Kaede's hut, where he was hiding from Sango and Miroku. "What took you so long!"

"Just making sure that Miroku doesn't get suspicious," Kagome said airily, "He'll be too busy trying to look after Sango, and Sango will be too busy making sure that he doesn't grope her."

Inuyasha smirked, "Alright."

Shippo watched the pair of them warily, as Kagome sat down by Inuyasha. _If only Sango and Miroku knew what Kagome and Inuyasha have planned for them…_

"So Koga's with Ayame, now?" Miroku said thoughtfully. "That's a pity. We can't get him to pretend to flirt with Kagome?"

"No," Sango said sternly, then muffled a sneeze. "I'm not going back out in that weather, and we're not messing in Koga and Ayame's relationship."

"At least we can fool with Kagome and Inuyasha's relationship," Miroku said somewhat cheerfully.

"At least this will stop Miroku trying to mess with my head about this marriage stuff," Inuyasha growled, getting up. "Alright, Kagome. But please, don't make me watch."

"I promise he'll never put flowers on your branch ever again," Kagome said solemnly, then smiled and kissed Inuyasha. "Until next time, my love."

Inuyasha grinned, _Oh, you're so in for it, Miroku._

"You do realise that Inuyasha will kill you at the end of this?" Sango said, once they'd whittled down their options on Operation: Matchmaker.

"It's worth it."

"And I will kill you if you take this any further than you need to," Sango said. "Don't hurt Kagome."

Miroku gave Sango a solemn look, "She's my friend as well, my dear. And she's certainly not the one for me." He gave Sango a look that promised that she was the one for him, not Kagome. Sango's cheeks flamed, "Oh, go on, get out of here, monk…" she hesitated, then added, more softly, "Good luck."

The rain was slowing. Standing on the threshold of Kaede's hut, Kagome breathed in the clearing air, and then forgot to breathe as the slowing rain revealed a rainbow in its midst, its mirage of hues cast over the Forest of Inuyasha. She smiled, entranced.

"It is beautiful," Miroku said solemnly, coming out of the travellers' hut. He didn't go too near Kagome, he kept a safe distance.

"I'm thinking of going home for a while," Kagome said quietly. "Will you stop Inuyasha from coming after me?"

"So you haven't resolved the matter with him?" Miroku asked concernedly.

"We have," Kagome said succinctly, her eyes dark with emotion. "That's why I want to go home for a while. To be alone."

"Don't let Inuyasha chase you from here," the monk came to her, and touched her hand lightly. Kagome twitched, suddenly nervous. "Miroku…"

Then he lightly touched her shoulder, as though about to rest his hand there reassuringly, but drew away with flirting perfection.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth and comforted himself by silently imagining twisting Miroku's lecherous fingers one by one from their joints.

Sango 'hmph'ed and pretended it didn't bother her, by going to polish her hirikotsu until it started creaking and threatening to crack, at which point she let go of it like a hot potato and reluctantly went to watch as Miroku continued his gradual flirting with Kagome.

"How about a walk," he suggested smoothly, "To make your mind off your troubles? I would of course accompany you if you would be agreeable to that. I would never rest easy otherwise, for fear of you getting attacked."

Kagome hesitated then nodded, and then laid her hand on his arm. "Thank you, Miroku."

Then it clicked for Sango. _Kagome would never flirt with Miroku…knowing that I like him. She'd punch him._ She sat back, relieved, and waited for the sparks to fly.

Inuyasha got up and silently followed the monk and his fiancée. "Is that really a good idea?" Shippo called after him in a low voice, scared.

"No," the half demon acknowledged sourly, "But neither is letting Kagome go alone with that pervert."

"Be calm, Inuyasha," Kaede advised, smiling. "Kagome would never betray you. It isn't in her heart to do such a thing."

"Unlike you," Shippo muttered, thinking of the number of times Inuyasha had gone to see Kikyo. Inuyasha thumped the demon fox cub.

"Ow!" Shippo yelled, "I was speaking the truth!"

"Inuyasha, quell your temper," Kaede ordered, "Just because you are frustrated with Miroku and Kagome does not give you the excuse to take it out on Shippo."

A low growl went up Inuyasha's throat, but knowing Kaede was right, he went to the corner and sulked like a terrier. Then he got up and began pacing the hut. After a few moments, Kaede sensed that he'd worn a path through her hut, and sharply told him to either sit still or pace outside. "Fine," he said crossly and went outside to kick his way through the sodden mud.

The air in the hut seemed to clear, when Inuyasha left: there was less of a desperate atsmosphere, and it even made Kaede chuckle. Then Shippo's ears twitched, "Kaede, isn't it a little too quiet?" he asked nervously, and padded over to the doorway, peeked outside. "Yeep!"

"He must have gone after Kagome," Kaede said ruefully.

"Kaede," Shippo said earnestly, looking up at the wizened priestess. "I have a feeling something bad's going to happen. Should we go after him?"

"Perhaps," Kaede acknowledged after a moment, and shuffled towards the doorway, her head bowed in thought.

_Miroku's been gone a long time,_ Sango thought, getting up before she'd even realised she was doing so. Her eyes blinked and readjusted to the darkness...she'd not realised that the cooking fire had died down to dead embers. As she emerged from the hut, she saw Kaede and Shippo heading into the forest. Immediately she grabbed a small katana and slid it into its sheath on her hip. Thus armed, she went after them.

Well ahead of them, Inuyasha followed Miroku and Kagome's scent avidly, then skidded to a screeching halt as he was just in time to see Miroku's hand gliding over Kagome's butt. And Kagome wasn't objecting.


	6. Chapter 6

My thanks to: Meatballheadedprincess14, InuGoddess715, premierarchange, Silver Wolf Pups, Tife L. Strife, shippousangoffe and inulover06 (omg! thanks for telling me about that terrible error i made!!! lmao! Kagome's gonna kill me!) for all their reviews.

Tessadragon

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

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Chapter 6 

_Minutes before Inuyasha and Sango saw Miroku grope Kagome..._

"Careful, Kagome," Miroku had said a few minutes ago, reaching out to stop her stepping into one of the deeper puddles. She smiled genuinely, "Thanks." Walking closer to him, she trusted the monk's sense of direction, walking through the forest. Her mind was becoming calmer, her ears no longer absorbing Inuyasha's fears and anger: only the rustle of the leaves and the swaying of tree branches, while air cleaned to crispness by the fallen rain hissed past her.

Her foot skidded again and startled, she threw her arm out: it bounced against the nearest tree and it swayed, releasing a loose cluster of dying leaves. "Oh!" she groaned, standing there, her feet buried in a mound of rotting leaves. She shifted her ankle and shook as much of the muck from her shoe as she could, and Miroku only narrowly managed to stop her slipping again. Kagome blushed and stepped free from the rotting leaves, a few clinging to her raven hair, her shoulders and her skirt.

Miroku smiled and removed one leaf from her hair.

"Thanks," Kagome muttered, embarrassed, plucking another leaf from her shirt. Miroku's hand swiped a leaf from the back of Kagome's skirt...

Then from the bushes, Inuyasha leapt with a bloodcurdling yell and threw himself at the monk, "I saw that, you PERVERT! You hentai! You lecherous back-stabber! You--"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelped.

"You twisted black-hearted, fiendish, perverted, lecherous, treacherous--!" Sango screamed, throwing herself at Miroku and slapping him with all her might...

Kagome pushed Miroku out of the way and Sango drew back only just in time. Inuyasha, his eyes wide, was unable to stop--

"Sit!" Kagome yelled, to stop him from plunging his claws into her face.

Spluttering and spitting out leaves, Inuyasha hissed at her, "What the hell was that for? No! I get it, you wanted Miroku to grope you? I thought you--"

Miroku mutely brushed another leaf from Kagome's shoulder, his face pale.

"He was wiping a leaf from my skirt," Kagome said, deadpan.

Inuyasha's eyes went as wide as saucers.

Sango's mouth pressed into a tight line.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Kagome began to giggle. Sango, after a second, laughed too, in a subdued and relieved way. Miroku smiled nervously. Inuyasha spat out another leaf and poor Kagome laughed harder, until he threw a handful of soggy leaves at her. "Hey!" she protested, then giggled harder: her clothes had been stained by worse in the past, so what was a bit of leaf dirt? Inuyasha laughed too, softly, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion.

"I can't believe my friends still have so little faith in me," Miroku said mournfully.

By the time Shippo and Kaede had caught up with them, everyone was laughing, though Inuyasha was still too reserved to laugh so hard: _I'll work on him,_ Kagome thought with a wild grin, then grabbed his hand and pulled him into the dirt.

He grabbed her chin and kissed her mouth hard, then gave Miroku a superior grin. A competitive urge rose in Miroku: suddenly he grabbed Sango's hand and kissed her on the lips, scared to look her in the eyes. After a second, Sango's hand stopped grabbing for the hilt of her katana as though she'd forgotten her urge to kill Miroku.

Kaede politely covered Shippo's eyes, much to his chagrin.

"Alright," Inuyasha drew back from Kagome and pulled her up to her feet. He went to stand in front of Kaede, giving her a defiant look. "Will you do this…ceremony thing? I want to marry Kagome. But not in front of people."

"What about us?" Miroku said mournfully, thinking that he'd be escorted from the forest. Sango misinterpreted it: "No! I'm not marrying you yet, Miroku!"

Miroku blinked, startled, then cocked his head to one side. "Really? Hmm." He smiled a small smile, wondering if it might be a challenge worth taking up, to try and get Sango to say yes. But for now, he preferred to be caught up in the challenge of watching Inuyasha and Kagome get hitched.

Kagome gave Inuyasha a smile and tightened her grasp on his hand, came to stand before Kaede too. "Yes, let's do it now."

Kaede looked bemused. "Fine. Do you want the long version or the short version?"

"Short version!"

"Short version's fine."

"Fine." Kaede nodded. "Problem is, we usually do this at a shrine, and we usually have sake."

"We've got a shrine," Kagome said quietly, and pointed ahead to the tree where once upon a time, Inuyasha had been pinned to the bark by a sacred sealing arrow. "It just hasn't been built yet."

Kaede hesitated, then nodded, a faint smile. _I have a feeling this is the oddest wedding I will ever ordain._ A tinge of sadness worked at her heart, for it was her sister who had longed to be with Inuyasha…but Kagome and Kikyo share the same soul, she had to reason, and Kagome and Inuyasha were happy together…they needed each other. Kikyo needed Inuyasha…but Inuyasha didn't really need Kikyo.

"First, purification." The method she chose was to select an arrow from the priestess tools she always carried. Its arrowhead had been formed and purified when she had first made it. Now she reached for Inuyasha's hand and sketched the symbol for purity lightly into his skin with the arrowhead, murmuring a prayer in a low tone, then took Kagome's hand and did the same. Then she pressed the couple's hands together, "Inuyasha, the groom is required to say words of commitment."

"What do I have to say?" Inuyasha asked warily.

"That you'll be faithful and obedient." It was Miroku who spoke up, "And I can act the role of the…go-between, I suppose you can call it, giving this oath for the two of you."

Inuyasha accepted this with a sigh of relief.

"Kagome, Inuyasha," Miroku looked at his two friends fondly, "I know you'll be faithful and obedient to each other."

"Obedient?" Inuyasha queried, arching an eyebrow. "Why should I want to be obedient to Kagome?"

"Because I'd be your wife," Kagome said warningly.

"Uh huh? I need a better reason."

She jabbed a finger into his chest and gave him a hostile smile, "Because if not, you sure won't get me into bed with you. And you wouldn't get me to make ramen for you."

That shut him up for a minute. Miroku smiled, "So you will be faithful and obedient, Inuyasha?"

"Yes," Inuyasha said coolly, "As long as it suits me."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sit," Kagome said hurriedly.

"And, um, Kagome, do you promise not to use your arrows on Inuyasha?" Miroku couldn't help but ask.

"Only if I catch him sneaking off to another girl," Kagome said sweetly.

"Keh, I'm not Miroku, idiot."

"Inuyasha, please don't call your wife an idiot on your wedding day."

_I don't think Eri's ever having to face this from her guy,_ Kagome thought with a longing sigh.

"And does that mean that Kagome can't go after Koga or that weird human kid, Toe-jam?"

"Hojo!"

Inuyasha's smirk was quickly wiped off by Kagome's next word.

"Sit!"

Inuyasha yelped and crashed to the ground, almost biting his tongue off.

Sango winced.

"How do you expect me to want to marry you if you keep doing that to me?" Inuyasha yelled at Kagome. Kagome simply helped Inuyasha to his feet, a soulful look on her face that made Inuyasha feel strange. Finally, he sighed and fell silent.

"We don't have sake to signify the union between us all," Sango observed.

"We don't need sake to know the union between us all," Kagome said quietly. "We've all saved each other's lives so many times, and we've fought together. What better union can there be?"

Inuyasha didn't argue against that, instead he gave Kagome a faint smile, remembering like oh so many times before, how he'd met her, above all others, _She led me to being like this…actually trusting these people._ Then he grinned sardonically, _Even that monk._ Though he knew like everyone else did, that Miroku wasn't as lecherous as he used to be, often only having thoughts for Sango.

_We've all changed,_ he realised, and his grip on Kagome's hand had tightened, _But what will change next?_

"Here," Kagome held out a sturdy twig to Inuyasha. He took it with a look of confusion; Kagome held an identical twig in her own hand. She softly told him, "We'd usually exchange rings, but I don't mind any more. So now we give these twigs…Sakaki, to the sacred tree, for the gods, that we have their blessing."

"Then it's done?" Inuyasha asked nervously. Kagome nodded, "Then it's done."

"It's a very abbreviated version indeed," Kaede said mournfully. Miroku laid a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "It's only right for such an unusual couple."

_Afternote: my apologies on the wedding scene…I'm working from brief research on Japanese weddings, and also because I can't imagine Inuyasha being the kind to adapt to tradition, I adapted the scene._


	7. Chapter 7

This is the last chapter, and after this I'm taking a hiatus from writing fanfiction, because I want to devote more time and focus to the novels I want to get published. Anyway, there isn't really much to tell in this chapter, I'm afraid. Oh well, if you want me to PM you when i get news of when my own real original books will be in the stores, just say so in a review, and I'll do so with pleasure. (I do teen fantasy/ supernatural, mainly.)

Tessadragon

My thanks to: InuGoddess715, premierarchange, artgalgenius (you're right, there isn't much research on the net about japanese weddings, or at least it wasn't as in depth, though luckily there were a few pretty good ones), Sayuri-Chan 16 (ha ha, i post regularly cos the uni's projects are kinda dull and i do that work easily enough at night, leaving me day times to do what i like until i find a job), kon-chan (), Tifa L. Strife, shippousangoffe and Meatballheadedprincess14 for their reviews!

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Chapter 6 

_I'm married_, Kagome thought, a smile rising to her lips, her eyes flickering across Inuyasha…her husband. Joy uncoiled in her belly like a butterfly from its chrysalis. Then her husband took her hand, his claws digging into her hand ever so slightly, but she couldn't care.

"C'mon, Kagome," he ordered, a bead of sweat forming and his face was paling.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

That wasn't the right answer. She reached up and lightly grabbed his ear, not to hurt him but so she could whisper into it, "What's wrong, Inuyasha?"

He grimaced, "C'mon. We have to go. Then I'll explain."

"Can I come?" Shippo demanded, bouncing up and down.

"Of course not!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Awww!" Shippo whined, "But I've never seen a demon marking his mate. Father was meant to tell me, but he's dead! How will I know what to do when I have a mate?"

Inuyasha's mouth opened a few times, but no sound came out. Finally, his eyes narrowed, but a surprisingly gentle answer came out, "I'll supervise you if I have to, Shippo. I'll teach you then. But this is our time." With that, he tugged Kagome's hand and led her deeper into the forest.

"Where will we go?" Kagome asked, her heart shivering in a thrill of trepidation. "Inuyasha? Where are we going?"

"Where my instincts tell me to," Inuyasha said shortly. "That's how it works with this ritual." He sighed and slowed down his pace, _I'd better explain. That's only the proper thing to do_. The reason he decided that, was because a distant memory told him of the tales Mother had told him of his father: how kind he had been, how determined and understanding. He had been a just man, noble and honourable, not impatient but regal. _I can't always be like him, but I can try just this once._

"The demon takes his mate to a place where his heart tells him it is safe," he said quietly, his voice carrying to her ears. "Then he makes sure she feels safe, asks her if she will trust him to keep her safe. If she says yes, he will give her his mark. For dog demons like myself, it's a bite on the back of the neck, an ultimate symbol of trust, for the neck is the most vulnerable place."

Kagome nodded, strangely feeling confident. "Okay, I can cope with that."

His bare feet paced fluidly over the mud trails, his head raised high as he listened, trying to determine that place that he was meant to find. Desperation was inching its way to the surface of his conscious: he wanted to get on with this, but he couldn't really figure out this first stage of marking! How could he have Kagome's respect and trust if he couldn't even find that place where instinct was meant to lead him?

Then a pale flash of silver moved between the trees ahead of them. His head jerked up and he paused for a second, momentarily stunned.

The silver figure came to a halt and looked back at him, the ghost of a smile on his face: a warrior? He sniffed, but couldn't smell anything but the forest. The figure was hazy, and something inside told him that this demon couldn't—or wouldn't—harm him.

Then a second figure came to stand beside the demon, her hand on his arm in such a trusting implication.

Inuyasha almost whispered his name for her aloud, but she, with a warm smile, pressed a finger to her lips and turned and walked, her hand resting on her mate's arm.

_Mother…_

Inuyasha, almost trance-like, followed his mother and who he now knew with perfect certainty was his father, through the forest, barely ducking the scraping fingers of branches, his feet sliding across the muck with hardly a ripple of the puddles' surfaces. Kagome watched her husband and soon to be her mate, with entranced fascination: his eyes were distant, and there was a vestige of relief, peace, on his usually suspicious, angry features.

She didn't dare speak for fear of sending away this dream-like feeling as the darkness of the forest brushed against her like shadows of gossamer veils.

Finally Inuyasha slowed and looked around like he was only just waking from this ephemeral dream of reality. It was a grown-over clearing, trails of brambles criss-crossing the grass like a net. If he looked hard enough, did he see his father's footprint? Was this where once upon a time, he took his mate, Inuyasha's mother, to mark her? He kept his thoughts to himself as he walked with Kagome across the brambles, ignoring their pricking: the soles of his feet were tough with decades of hiking and fighting. The rough hewn boulders heaped on each other had been here centuries. Crisp, preserved skeletons of leaves had blown into the cave and rested there, crackling under Kagome and Inuyasha's feet as he led her to the heart of the cave. The ancient black ashes of a small long ago fire were still heaped against the wall, surrounded by small, round, blackened stones.

"Wait here," Inuyasha said quietly, and saw Kagome shiver in the cold of this cave, though she tried to suppress that. He took off his red haori jacket and draped it over her shoulders, "I'll be back in a moment." Then with light steps, he darted out into the clearing and hunted for dry branches. Tucked into the nooks of the trees, out of the path of the earlier rainfall, and then the dried husks of leaves, he collected them all and brought them in, laid them over the old ashes, with not the heart to take out the old ashes. They were like his father's reminder that he would be alright.

"I don't have any matches," Kagome reminded him, crestfallen.

"Keh," Inuyasha shook his head, "We don't rely on matches anyway."

Kagome smiled sheepishly and watched as her husband carefully notched a hole in one of the rounder short lengths of branch, then used another carefully chosen stick to create the friction that would result in heat, that sparked into a flame as the heat grew inside the first short length of branch. He fed the flame with a few leaves, then tucked it carefully into the nest of branches. When the fire was thriving, he turned back to Kagome, drew her closer. While he thought, their shadows danced to the firelight on the rounded walls surrounding them.

"I'm not afraid any more," Kagome whispered in Inuyasha's ear, and he kissed her. "Good." He asked her to lie down, then he carefully took away her shirt, warming her skin with his body, laying his haori jacket over her like a blanket. Then without warning her, for fear that she'd tense up, he sank his teeth gently into the back of her neck, his tongue rasped across the wound, and blood rose to the surface. He kissed it deeply, then sealed it with his saliva, cleaning the wound. Kagome shivered in pain, and Inuyasha asked if she was okay.

"Yes," she whispered.

He rolled her onto her front, so that the wound faced the ceiling, against the blood's route of flow. "It'll heal by morning," he told her confidently, then snuggled below her, "Now you have to do the same to me. Bite into the back of my neck."

Kagome made a small sound of fear.

"It'll be okay," he assured her, "I trust you."

"It's not that…it's just, I'm not used to biting people!"

He laughed, a mischievous light in his eyes. "I should hope not. Even I don't bite if I can help it. My claws are perfectly fine, so why use teeth? Now come on, don't be scared, Kagome."

She drew a deep breath, as he took off his creamy shirt. For a moment she was caught in the moment of eyeing his well-defined chest, which made him smirk, as he offered her the back of his neck.

Here goes…Kagome thought fearfully, then hesitantly pressed her teeth into Inuyasha's shoulder in the same place as where he'd bitten her.

"You have to taste my blood," Inuyasha said, trying to sound brave, though fear tinged his own consciousness. "Like I tasted yours. That way, our bodies recognise that they are paired with someone of a different kind…yin seeks to be opposite of yang, but they are twinned, pressed together, and thus seek to be exactly the same. Our bodies seek to be exactly the same, our blood seeks to be the same."

The same… Kagome drew back, "Does that mean my blood will want to be like yours…"

"A half demon, yes," he nodded, wary. "Will you be alright with that?"

"How much different will it make me?"

"Stronger. Mostly it's about sharing a lifespan, a lifetime. That's all it is."

Kagome nodded, and Inuyasha heard her heart flutter faster. "It'll be okay," he assured her, "We'll be together, I will always look after you."

"I know," she whispered, then tasted his blood, kissed his wound like he'd done hers, and drew back, wondering if she could feel the changes taking place inside her.

Inuyasha stretched his shoulders in a circular motion, wincing at how the wound smarted, though he knew he was healing, then he drew Kagome close, kissed her mouth. He saw her eyelids flutter: she was tired. Marking did take energy as their blood fought to be like that of their partner, to achieve a balance.

"I love you, Inuyasha," she whispered, falling asleep in his arms.

The campfire cast joyful light to the ceiling, just like it had done decades ago for Inuyasha's mother and father.

Inuyasha and Kagome. Forever.


End file.
